Pump



A. W. BURKS PUMP Original Filed Feb. 14, 1921 Pat nted Mm 1, 1921.

umrsn I srnrss ARTHUR: W. BURKS, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

rumr. I

Applieatienlfiled February 14, 1921, Serial No. 444,830. Renewed January15, 1927.

This invention relates to pumps, and more particularly, to pumps of thecentrifugal type, comprising a-rotor having fluid impelling means, suchas a series of blades, operat- 6 ing within a raceway, there being arelatively tight fit between the rotor and the casing to resist the flowof fluid from the raceway.

An object of the invention is to provide a pump having a novelrotor'construction,

l and one in which the relative arrangement l The above-mentioned andother objects of a more minute character, which will become obvious asthe description proceeds, are at tained by a construction whichcomprises a casing having a'raceway open .at one side only, and'intowhich, through the open side, projects a series of blades adapted to'act; upon' the fluid entering through a suitable inlet openingand-making its exit through an outlet opening also provided. The rotor.is, preferably, arranged in a plane parallel:

to. the plane of the raceway, the blades pro I jecting latera'llyfromthe margin of the re tor through the open side of the raceway into thelatter.

.The impelling blades are arranged in an. "annular marginal series uponthe disk-' shaped rotor, and each blade is provided with a concaveimpelling face. Each blade referably, though not necessarily,.

a should,

" project rom the face of the rotor for the same distance throughout itsWidth.

In order to minimize the loss of power adr jacent the inlet and outletopenings of the V raceway each opening communicates with a,

passageway, the cross-sectional area of each passageway graduallyrncreasmg 1n a dlrection away from its opening. The above are the morelmportant and general features with which the invention ischaracterized, and in the accompanying drawings I have shown a pump inwhich they are embodied. In these drawings Fig.1 is a front elevationalview of the pump, a portion of the same being shown in cross-sectlon, 1Fig. 2 is a side view with the upper half of the casing and rotor shownin cross-section, Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of arotor,

vFig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a slightly modified bladeconstruction, and Figure 5 is ,a fragmentary sectional viewtakenlongitudinally of the inlet opening.

Referring to the drawings more in detail, 10 indicates a casing sectionformed with a marginal raceway or chamber 11 having an inlet opening 12and an outlet opening 13.

The raceway isopen only at one side, 13, this side being open entirelyaround the race way. A rotor 14 is also located within the casing in aplane paralleling the plane of the raceway, and is formed with amarginal flange 15 from which laterallyproject, away from one face ofthe rotor, a plurality of spaced blades 16. The blades and flange extendthrough the open side 13 of the raceway into the latter, andit will benoted that 8 the raceway has an open space surrounding the blades 16.This open space extends from the inlet opening in a clockwise direction(Fig. 1) to the outlet opening 13, Between the outlet openingand theinlet opening the raceway narrows and is of only a sufiicient width topermit the blades and flange to pass between the side walls 11', By thusnarrowing the raceway, leakage of the fluid, which has been carriedaround the raceway to the outlet opening, back to the inlet opening; isprevented. The rotor is fixedly mounted upon ashaft 17 which hasbearings in the central portion of the casing section 10, and in a boss19 of a rear casing section 20. The forward end-of the shaft may besurrounded by a bushing 18', and the rear end of the boss 19 may beclosed by a gland nut 21 serving to retain within the boss packing22.The two casing sections may be held I together by any suitable means,such as screws 23'passing through peripheral flanges 1 it will be notedthat each blade 16 is formed with a concave impelling face 16' and projects from the face of the rotor or flange for the same distance throughits entire width. The blades may have the flat end faces 16 shown inFig. 4, or, if preferred,

these faces maybe curved, as shown in the modified construction of Fig.3. The blades are arranged in the annular marginal serles in order totravel through the raceway, as

shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and initially engage the fluid as enters theraceway through the mlet opening 12 which directs the fluid at an angleto the face of the rotor and communicates with a passageway formedin asultable nozzle 26, into which the end of a supply pipe maybe inserted.This passageway gradually increases in cross-sectional area in adirection away from the Inlet opening so that the fluid will have itsvelocity gradually increased to the Velocity of the fluid Within theraceway, thereby preventing the creation of eddy currents, decreaslngthe impact between the entering fluid and the rotor and effectivelyguarding against other power consuming conditions.

By referring to Fig. 1 it will also be noted that the outlet opening 13communicates with a passageway 27 in a nozzle 28, this passageway alsogradually increasing in cross-sectional area as it leads away from theoutlet opening 13. Bythis arrangement the loss of power due to frictionat the outlet is prevented, for it will be understood that the fluidleaving the rotor has a very high velocity head which would be quicklylost through the friction if it is not quickly changed to pressure head.By employing the diverging passageway or nozzle shown the high velocityhead of the fluid is quickly changed to pressure head with very littleloss of total head.

.Another important feature of the invention resides in the relation ofthe cross-sectional areas of the inlet and outlet openings to thecross-sectional area of the unoccupied portion of the raceway. As willbe evident from an inspection of the drawings, the raceway has an openspace surrounding the rotor blades, and the cross-sectional area of thisopen space is the same as the crosssectional area of the inlet andoutlet openings, the outlet opening being indicated at 13. That is tosay, the area of each opening, is at least equal to the cross sectionalare? of the raceway on a radial plane minus the cross sectional area ofthe space occupied by the ring of blades, whereby the inlet opening isadapted to supply a sufiicient amount of fluid to maintain the racewayat substantially its operating capacity.

In operating this pump, power is applied to the rotor shaft 17 and therotor is re- 7 volved in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1.Fluid entering through the inlet opening 12 is engaged by the blades,generally upon the inner side of the blades, and the centrifugal forceimmediately results in a tendency to throw the water against the outerwall of the raceway, the centrifugal force being modified by a forwardor "tangential force created by the revolution of the rotor. The pathactually taken by the fluid is a resultant of these two forces. Eachamount of fluid operated upon in this manner, of course, obtains a greatincrease in velocity. This increase in velocity head of the fluid isimmediately imparted in the 35 form of pressure head to the fluidimmediately ahead in the raceway, and thedmpartation of power results inan immediate de-' crease in head on the part of the amount of fluidwhich again is actuated by the-rotor. In passing through the raceway thefluid follows the helical course indicated by the dotted lines in Figs.3 and 4,;1-1ntil it reaches. the outlet opening, Wheref its very highvelocity head is cliange d to pressure head by the diverging nozzle28above described. The frequency with which the fluidis actuated by therotor during its passa' ethrough the raceway will vary inaccordance-with the back pressure at the outlet, high back pressure attheoutlet tending to lengthen the path of the fluid by increasing thenumber of times it is subjected to the action of the rotor. This will bemore clearly understood by comparison of the dotted-lines 100 shown inFigs. 3 and 4. In Fig. 4 it will be noted that the curves are less sharpand more'gradual than the curves in Fig. 3. In Fig. 4 the dotted linescorrespond to the course of the fluid under low back pressure, n thefluid moving a further distance after it is once thrown outwardly by theimpeller than in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3 it will be noted that the curves aresharp due to the fact F that the high back pressure prevents fiuld frompassing onwardly within the raceway for any considerable distance beforeit imparts its velocity head to the fluid which has preceded and returnsto the rotor for im )ulsion.

n addition to the action of the rotor, the form of the raceway changesthe direction of the water and causes it to take the helical path, andif no other force acted to change r its course or reduce itsvelocity, itwould again enter the impeller at a point farther ahead in the directionof its rotation, when it would again receive kinetic energy from theaction of the impeller. Due to the small friction of the discharge andthe friction of the assage through the raceway, in addition to t e head,the pump may be acting against, the water leaving the impeller willencounter a back pressure or pressure head acting in a directionopposite rotation of the impeller. This force tends to 'change thecourse of the water counter to the direction in Which it is traveling.The water in thus changing its direction givesup its velocity head tothe Water just ahead of it in the form of the pressure head. As theWater gives up its velocity head to the water in advance, it is caused,by the several forces mentioned, to return to the impeller to obtainadditional velocity, and the path it takes is a helical one.

The Water does not in any substantial or considerable amount passthrough the narrow portion of theraceway. Small amounts of the same mayreturn to-the inlet opening, but not in degrees sufficient to affect theoperation of the pump.

Although I have described. in detail, a concrete embodiment of myinvention, it should be understood that the showing and description ismerely illustrative, and not in any sense restrictive of the invention.such modifications being possible without departing from the inventionas come within the scope of the following claims.

I claim 1. Apump comprising a rotor having an annular marginal series ofblades positioned on a lateral face thereof, said blades havingunshrouded ends whereby the spaces between the blades are open at theends of the blades, and a casing having a fluid raceway enclosing saidseries of blades, there being a space within the racewa between the endsof the blades and the wa l of the raceway;

2. A pump comprising a rotor having an annular marginal series of bladespositioned on a lateral face, thereof, said blades having unshroudedends whereby the spaces between the blades are open at the ends of theblades, and a casin having a fluid raceway in a plane para leling theplane of the rotor enclosing said series of-blades, there being a spacewithin the raceway between the ends of the blades and the wall of theraceway. p

3. A pump comprising a 'rotor having an annular marginal series ofblades positioned on a lateral face thereof, said blades havingunshrouded ends whereby the spaces between the blades are open at theends of the blades, and a casing having a fluid raceway in a planeparalleling the lane of the rotor enclosing said series of b ades. saidraceway being closed to the remainder of the rotor, there being a spaceWithin the raceway be tween the ends of the blades and the wall of p theraceway.

4. A pump comprising a rotor having an annular marginal series of bladespositioned on a lateral face thereof, said blades having. unshroudedends whereby the spaces beangle to the face of the rotor, there being aspace within the raceway between the ends of the blades and the wall ofthe raceway.

5. A pump comprising a casing having a circular chamber therein open atone side only, said chamber having an inlet and an outlet opening, and arotor located in a plane parallel to the plane of said chamber andhaving a mar inal series of blades extending laterally rom a facethereof into said chamber side opening and closing the latter, therebeing a space in said chamber surrounding said blades.

' 6. A pump comprising a casing having a narrow annular chamber thereinopen at one side only, said chamber having an inlet and an outlet, arotor located in a plane parallel to the plane of said chamber, and amarginal circular series of comparatively small blades extendinglaterally from a, face of pelling surface.

8. A pump comprising a casing having a narrow annular chamber thereinopen at one side only, said chamber having an inlet and an outlet, arotor located in a plane parallel to the plane of said chamber, and amarginal circular series of comparatively small blades extendinglaterally from a face of said rotor through the side opening into thechamber and closing said opening, said blades being narrower than thechambeinand each blade having a transversely curved concave impellingsurface.

9. A pump comprising a disk rotor, a circular marginal series of bladespositioned on a lateral face thereof, said blades having unshrouded endswhereby the spaces between the blades are open at the ends of theblades, a circular fluid raceway for said blades, said raceway having aninlet opening and an outlet opening, the ends-of said blades beingspaced substantially from the wall of the raceway. V

10. A pump comprising a disk rotor, a circular marginal series of bladespositioned on a lateral face thereof, said blades having unshrouded endswhereby the spaces between the blades are open at the ends of theblades, a circular fluid raceway for said blades, said raceway having aninlet opening and an outlet opening, the ends of said blades beingspaced substantially from the wall of the raceway, and said inletopening being adapted to admit fluid at an angle to the face of therotor.

11. A pump comprising a casing having a chamber therein open at one sideonly, said chamber having an inlet and an outlet opening, and a rotorlocated in a plane parallel to the plane of said chamber and having amarginal series of blades extending laterally from a face thereof intosaid chamber side opening and closing the latter, said inlet and outletopenings each being of an area at least equal to the cross-sectionalarea of the unoccupied portion of said chamber.

12. A pump comprising a casing having a chamber therein open at one sideonly, said chamber having an inlet and outlet opening, and a rotorlocated in a plane parallel to the plane of said chamber and having amarginal series of blades extending laterally from a face thereof intosaid chamber side opening and closing the latter, said inlet and out letopenings each being of an area at least equal to the cross-sectionalarea of the unoccupied portion of said chamber, and each having apassageway communicating therewith which gradually increases incross-sectional area in a direction away from its opening.

13. A pump comprising a substantially disc-like rotor, a substantiallycircular series of blades positioned on a lateral face of said rotorremote from its axis, said blades having unshrouded ends whereby thespaces between t-he blades are open at their ends, a casing for. saidrotor having a substantially circu a r fluid raceway into which saidbladesproject, said raceway having an inlet opening and an outletopening and the casing making a substantiall fluid-tight fit with therotor on opposite sides of the blades, the sealing surfaces of thecasing and rotor being at a substantial angle to a plane normal to therotor axis.

14. A pump comprising a substantially disc-like rotor, a substantiallycircular series of blades positioned on a lateral face of said rotorremote from its axis, said blades having unshrouded ends whereby thespaces between the blades are open at their ends, a casing for saidrotor having a substantially circular fluid raceway into which saidblades project, said raceway having an inlet opening and an outletopening and the casing making a substantially fluid-tight fit with therotor on opposite sides of the blades, the sealing surfaces of thecasing and rotor being disposed at an angle to the lateral face of therotor, and the walls of said raceway being s aced from the bladeswhereby there is a substantial cross-sectional area of the racewaunoccupied by the blades.

l5. pump comprising a substantially disc-like rotor, a substantiallycircular series of blades positioned on a lateral face of said rotorremote from its axis, said blades hav ing unshrouded ends whereby thespaces between the blades are open at their ends, a casing for saidrotor having a substantially circular fluid raceway into which saidblades project, said raceway having an inlet opening and an outletopening and the caslng making a substantially fluid-tight fit with therotor on opposite sides of the blades, the sealing surfaces of thecasing and rotor being substantially parallel with the rotor axis, andthe walls of the raceway being spaced from the blades at their ends andsides whereby there is a substantial crosssectional area of the racewayat the ends and sides of the blades unoccupied by the latter.

16. A pump comprising a rotor having an annular marginal series ofblades and a casing having an annular channel therein forming a racewayfor fluid to be impelled by said blades, said casing forming asubstantially water-tight joint with the surface of said rotor on eachside of said series of blades to form a substantially closed fluidraceway, the sealing surfaces between thecasing and rotor on oppositesides of said series of blades being disposed at angle to the lateralsurface of the rotor.

17. A pump comprising a rotor having an annular marginal series ofblades and :1. casing having an annular channel therein into which theblades project formin a raceway for fluid to be impelled by said ilades,said casing forming a substantially water-tight joint with the surfaceof said rotor on each side of said series of blades to form asubstantially closed fluid raceway, the sealing surfaces between thecasing and rotor on opposite sides of said series of blades subtantiallyparalleling the rotor axis.

18. A pump comprising a rotor having an annular series of blades remotefrom its axis and projecting outwardly from the plane of a lateral faceof the rotor and a laterally projecting flange on the rotor at the innerends of said blades providing pump casing sealing surfaces disposed onopposite sides of the blades and subtantially at a right angle to thelateral face of the rotor.

19. A pump comprising a rotor having an annular series of blades remotefrom its axis and projecting outwardly from the plane of a lateral faceof the rotor and a laterally projecting flange on the rotor at the innerends of said blades providing substantially lmperforate pump casingsealing surfaces disposed on opposite sides of the blades and said rotorhaving casing sealing surfaces ar- 10 substantially paralleling/ therotor axis. ranged on radially opposite sides of the 20. A pump rotorcomprising a substanseries of blades, said surfaces being disposedtially disc-like element havin a centrally .at a subtantial angle to thelateral face. of 5 disposed axis of rotation ant? an annular \the rotor.d

marginal series of blades projecting out- In testimony whereof I havehereunto set 15 wardl and laterally from the plane of a myhand/ 1 laterface of the rotor, and shoulders dis- Jr posed at-theinner ends-of saidblades on L W. I

